The Israelites had sojourned in the wilderness until the last of an entire rebellious generation had died and been buried. They had walked to the banks of the Jordan and had seen its waters part before them. They had crossed the river and entered the Promised Land. And now the true work and the true challenge would begin.

Though God had promised that this people would inherit this land, and though he had promised that it would be their possession, he did not intend to deliver it to them in its completed form. He did not intend to give them a land whose every field was forever cleared and tilled, whose every crop was forever ripe for harvest, whose every barn was forever full. Rather, he intended to give them a land whose climate was right, who soil was rich, whose nutrients were plentiful, and whose waters were pure. He intended to give them a land that would respond appropriately and provide bountifully to their hard labor.
And so as the people took possession of the land, as they displaced its inhabitants, they set to work. They claimed the fields that had already been broken and planted, but they also claimed new fields and prepared them for sowing and watering and reaping. Year by year they expanded their territory, season by season the portion of the land that would provide for its new people.
And in much the same way, we as Christians are given a great promise—that the God who has claimed us will reshape us. We are told that we are to be perfect even as God is perfect, told that we are to put every sin to death and come alive to every virtue, told that we are to become more and more like our Savior Jesus Christ. But as the Israelites had to labor to claim what was theirs, so too do we. As the Israelites had to take possession of what God had promised, so too do Christians.
And so we enter the new life united to our Savior by faith and indwelled by his Holy Spirit. We come to understand the great promise that we are to be joint heirs of his inheritance and that all that belongs to him is to be ours. And then we come to learn how to receive and how to use what he offers to us so we can extend the borders of our possession, enlarge our territory, always pressing back the chaos of depravity so divine graces can take root and grow and bring forth precious fruit. Even our ugliest faults, our most established habits, and our most coddled sins begin to waver and crumble. Bit by bit we conquer the old and come alive to the new. Day by day we take more and more of the vast possession that is ours in Christ. And always and ever we look with expectation to the day the battles will finally be over, the land will finally be fully conquered, and we shall reign forever with Him.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

There are some good Kindle deals today, including a new biography about the Spurgeons.
(Yesterday on the blog: God’s Pop-Up Book)
Deadly children’s games
I expect you’ve been hearing about Netflix’s hit series Squid Game. This review from WORLD tells what it’s all about.
A Cultural Moment for Revival?
“While our culture continues to slip into chaotic depravity, more and more people are voicing their fears and frustrations. What will become of this country? What will become of the world? What challenges will our children face? The darkness seems to be overtaking the light.” But all is not lost.
God’s not “They:” Divine Pronouns Matter
John Stonestreet is clear that we should not mess with God’s pronouns. “God isn’t a force or an energy with no opinion of what we think about Him. God is a person, with specific characteristics. God is not a nebulous blob to be molded according to our wishes. God is infinite, but He is not indefinite.”
Planting Forests
This is a needed reminder that good things often take plenty of time. “Yes, it often took hundreds of years for the momentum to grow strong and wide enough for large-scale change. But should that mean we don’t make the attempt? Not at all.”
From “What if” to “Even If”
“Someone once said that if the thing we worry about doesn’t happen, we’ve wasted all that angst and energy and head space. And if it does happen, we’ve doubled the toll it would have taken by worrying about it beforehand. That helps me put aside worried questions and supposing. But something else helps me even more.”
Navigating the Preaching Rut
Here’s help for the preacher who feels like he’s in a rut. “Unfortunately, not all ruts are equal. Ruts on the farm can keep you from driving into a hole. But what about when you feel like you are in a rut when preaching?”
The Week Coleraine Stood Still
This is an inspiring account of the 1859 revival in the town of Coleraine, on the north coast of Ireland.
Flashback: Pastoring Is So Much More Than Preaching
A shepherd doesn’t only lead his sheep to pasture and water, but also watches them to guard them from all harm.

Consider how precious a soul must be, when both God and the devil are after it. —Charles Spurgeon

With a group of friends, I am reading Sinclair Ferguson’s Devoted To God, a book about holiness and the ways in which God instructs us to be holy even as he is holy. In this week’s reading I found a helpful illustration of the Old Testament rites and ceremonies and thought you might benefit from it as I did. Ferguson describes them as acting like pop-up picture books…

The Lord unfolded it at first through liturgical rites and ceremonies prescribed in the law given to and expounded by Moses. Think of these as being like the pop-up picture books we give to and read with small children. They learn not only from words but also from pictures. The appeal is made to their senses: they hear the words; but they can also see and touch what these words express. In the same way the Lord built physical ceremonies and objects into old covenant life, which the people could hear, see, touch, and even smell. They experienced a multi-media expression of their sin and of God’s grace and way of salvation. They also learned that they were to be separated from the world, different from others, and devoted exclusively to the Lord. Their lives had a distinct rhythm outwardly (they had a unique calendar), their daily existence was governed by personal and community laws that made them different from other nations. It was all meant to express the basic principle that the Lord had claimed them for himself. They were his. Therefore they were different from those who were not his. That was what being holy meant. The Lord had chosen them, redeemed them from Egypt, and claimed them for himself. Now in turn they were to reserve themselves exclusively for him. There was to be no unrequited love.
As the narrative of the Old Testament progressively unfolded, God explained what being devoted to him meant at a personal and moral level. This process reached something of a climax in the ministry of the prophet Isaiah, especially in the way he spoke about God as ‘the holy one of Israel’. In his own experience and prophetic ministry it became crystal clear that holiness was never intended to be merely a matter of keeping the Old Testament rituals, nor simply of outward obedience to the Ten Commandments. Holiness meant knowing God, the Holy One, and reflecting and expressing his character—having fellowship with him in such a way that, as his bride, his people became like their Husband, the One with whom they lived.

May you know the Lord’s sweetest blessings as you prepare to worship him this weekend.

Logos users may want to check out some bundled deals of resources I recommend.
Today’s Kindle deals include some newer books and some classics.
(Yesterday on the blog: Why I Am Still All-in With E-Books)
Johann Sebastian Bach: Aria from Easter Oratorio
American Bach Soloists is one of my favorite YouTube channels. Mostly recently they’ve shared an excellent recording of some Easter music.
Leaving a Legacy of Bible Reading
“I have had many opportunities in my life where I woke up and didn’t read Scripture. Instead, I got showered, dressed, ate something, and then ran out the door to start my day. But as I’ve grown a little older and become responsible for the lives around me, I’ve learned that those mornings of quiet process with God’s truth are what set me in motion to love well during my day.”
Marx on Law and Religion
“Karl Marx thought that in order to create a perfect society where the state owns everything and takes care of everyone’s needs, two institutions must be toppled: law and religion.” In a brief clip, R.C. Sproul explains this in his inimitable way.
Carl Trueman and the Evangelical Mind
Carl Trueman recently reflected on the Evangelical mind. In this piece, Thomas Kidd picks up on that article and offers some thoughts of his own.
Yes, Preaching Really Does Change People
“If you’ve been in pastoral ministry for any length of time at all you’ve asked the question: Is my preaching actually doing anything? Is it having any effect?” Mike Bullmore offers some encouragement to those wondering if preaching really matters.
Why Creation and Words Frustrate Us, and 4 Ways to Start Writing
Cara has some pointers for writers (or people who want to be writers): “Wanting to write is a good thing. But for some, it’s hard to know where to start. Here are four ways to narrow down the realities of your life, and start writing about it.”
Flashback: 3 Awful Features of Roman Sexual Morality
Things that were once considered unthinkable are now deemed natural and good. Christians are increasingly seen as backward, living out an ancient, repressive, irrelevant morality.

We would never choose suffering for ourselves. But when God allows suffering into our lives, he gives us opportunities to experience Jesus that we would not otherwise have. —Betsy Childs Howard

This week’s Free Stuff Fridays is sponsored by Crossway, who also sponsored the blog this week. They are giving away the new ESV Concise Study Bible. There will be five winners this week and each will receive a copy of each of these Bibles.

Here is how Crossway describes it: 
The ESV Concise Study Bible was created to help readers explore the essential meaning of the Bible. Inspired by the best-selling ESV Study Bible, this robust Bible offers fresh content for new believers and seasoned saints alike, explaining difficult phrases, defining key terms, identifying important people and places, and highlighting links between biblical passages. 
Featuring 12,000+ study notes; 150+ maps and charts; 15+ illustrations; and an introduction to each book that outlines its setting, background, and key themes, the ESV Concise Study Bible is rich in content yet approachable and easy to carry—perfect for studying God’s Word in any context.

Enter Here
Giveaway Rules: You may enter one time. By entering, you will be added to Crossway’s mailing list. As soon as the winners have been chosen, all names and addresses will be immediately and permanently erased. Winners will be notified by email. The giveaway closes Saturday at noon. If you are viewing this through email, click to visit my site and enter there.

A number of years ago I decided to go all-in with ebooks. I was in transition at the time, having just resigned as a vocational pastor to instead be a non-vocational pastor whose primary focus is writing. My library was at the church and I didn’t fancy bringing it all home. Neither did I have space in my small house for a big collection of books. I had already been wavering between the two formats, but allowed practical considerations to cast the final vote. I sold some of my books, gave the rest away, and have pretty much stayed the course. Today I have perhaps 50 printed books and several thousand electronic (the majority of which are provided by publishers for review purposes).

That said, the world of ebooks is still pretty goofy in ways and pretty confusing in others. For example, one platform offers the most books and the best hardware for reading them (Amazon/Kindle) while another offers the best variety and experience for the kind of books I rely on for research and sermon preparation (Logos). The two are completely incompatible. And so I buy and read one kind of book on one platform and another kind of book on the other. It’s silly and unfortunate, but at this time necessary.
Then there is the issue of future compatibility. I expect we all have files and software from the past that we can no longer use and no longer access because either the software manufacturer has gone out of business or the old programs will no longer run on new machines. While I have a reasonable degree of confidence in both Amazon and Logos, I am not so naive as to think that either is too big to fail or to believe that I will necessarily always have full access to everything I have paid for. That concerns me.
Then, of course, there is the issue of ownership. It is well understood by now that when we purchase electronic assets, we do not actually own them as much as we secure the rights to use them. For this reason, I have had to come to see books as something closer to a service than a possession. There was a time when I owned collections of CDs and DVDs—of music and movies. But streaming services came along that made both redundant. Similarly, my library has essentially been replaced with a service—with a collection of books I have paid to have rights to, though not to own. This has required a shift in mindset, but it is one I have been willing to make.
Another big issue is that of Amazon’s utter dominance of the market and their increasing willingness to refuse or remove books that are opposed to their ideologies. This concerns me a lot, though the issue is not solved by switching to paper since Amazon’s dominance in the marketplace is so complete that few books, whether physical or electronic, will be printed if they cannot be sold through its channels.
But alongside such drawbacks are real benefits. Electronic books are almost always cheaper than printed books which means I can have all the same resources but spend less on them. Electronic books take up no space, so I do not have hundreds or thousands of bulky objects cluttering up my home. Electronic books have no form, so cannot be lost or damaged by fire or flood. They can, though, be taken with me wherever I go so that my entire library is available to me at all times and in all situations. This often has proven very handy.
Both Kindle and Logos have one unique function I have come to rely on—one that is not easily replicated by their physical equivalents. For Kindle, it is the ability to make highlights that are then synced into the tool(s) I use for knowledge storage and management. As I outlined in “Three New Tools That Make a Huge Difference,” I have come to rely on Roam Research to store key information, and I use a tool called ReadWise to automatically sync all my highlights into it. This same tool also emails me a daily newsletter with some of those highlights so I can continue to refresh my memory about key quotes and significant ideas. This has become key to my workflow and retention.
The unique function for Logos is the ability to perform powerful searches across my entire library. By taking advantage of Logos’ many sales and free resources I have accumulated a significant library of books, commentaries, sermons, and reference works, and rely heavily on the ability to search across all of them. The Sermon Starter Guide, Passage Guide, and Bible Word Study Guide are tools I don’t ever want to do without. I do not at all miss the days when I’d spend hours pulling books from my shelves and having eight or ten of them spread across my desk.
Very practically, I tend to purchase general market and Christian living books in Kindle format, but reference books in Logos. Essentially, if I expect to use a book in preparing sermons or Bible studies, I prefer to have it in Logos; if I expect to merely read a book and perhaps refer to it infrequently in the future, I am content to have it on Kindle.
As the Kindle hardware has developed it has gotten better and better so that both the Paperwhite and Oasis are exceptional devices, especially when compared to earlier generations. I also access the Kindle app on my computer, though primarily to search within books and to easily copy and paste information into other apps. As for Logos, I have long since stopped using the downloadable app to instead use the browser-based equivalent which has all the functions I need and which runs considerably faster.
I do at times miss the simple pleasure of a printed book. There is still something about the form of it—about the look, the feel, the format. The book as we have known it for so many generations is a wonderful medium and one that carries out its task remarkably well. But books have their downsides and ebooks their upsides and in the end, I have decided to prioritize the latter. And as it stands today, I have no great regrets.

The Lord be with you and bless you today.

There is a new ESV Concise Study Bible available and Westminster Books has it on sale this week.
I’ve added a few books to today’s list of Kindle deals.
D. A. Carson on the Two Jews Talking the Day Before the First Passover
Here’s a neat little excerpt of a sermon by D.A. Carson.
No Such Thing as Too Hard Music
Madelyn Canada: “It wasn’t that the music was too hard to figure out, and it wasn’t that the situation was really all that hard to know how to handle. The truth in both situations was that I didn’t want to give all that it would require of me. Apparently walking in obedience to Christ is quite a bit like playing the piano.”
Why God Saved You
God saves people for a purpose. Salvation in Christ begins a life spent growing into being like him and serving him faithfully. God forms Christians into Christ’s character and image. This transformation takes place as we come to know and love our Lord. God sends maturing Christians out into the world as his servants as he reconciles all things to himself. (Sponsored Link)
Why the Enemy Wants You to Think You’re Alone
“I’ve been there. Discouragement spiraled into depression. I multiplied my angst by entangling myself in sin. I didn’t think anyone would understand. I was too afraid to ask anyone for help. Lies compounded sin.” What if there is a strategy behind this sense of isolation?
3 Unthievable Treasures
“Almost anything we treasure—from people to possessions to abilities—can vanish in an instant. However, Scripture does teach us about a few precious treasures that no thief, con man, or devil can ever take away.”
Preparing to Meet Jesus
This is a sweet and encouraging one. “Lord, thank you for sending all the Agneses into our lives who are examples of both how to live and how to prepare to die. Thank you for praying women who are doing the good things that you have planned for them long ago. Thank you for those who have come before us and are steadfast in their faith in spite of weary bodies. I pray that I will be well prepared when I see my Savior face to face.”
What the Church is Not
“These are dark days. Thankfully, there are double yellow lines within the church, made and intended to guide the body of Christ: God and his Word. The white outer line? That is your pastor, a man chosen by God, an overseer tasked with the mission of shepherding your soul through prayer and teaching. He answers directly to God, and will give an account.”
Flashback: Please Do & Please Don’t Assume Motives
Yet we are so quick to assume the very best about our own motives and the very worst about others’. Surely this is some of what the psalmist cried for in Psalm 139…

Christianity is not just intellectually defensible but also intellectually satisfying at the deepest of levels. Yes, we believe God with our hearts. But we can also enjoy him with our minds. —Michael Kruger

Grace and peace to you, my friends.

I have added a couple of Kindle deals with more possibly to come tomorrow.
(Yesterday on the blog: Family Update: An Engagement, a Scholarship, and a Beautiful Bench)
The Failure of Evangelical Elites
Carl Trueman has some extended thoughts on the failure of Evangelical elites. “Let me put it bluntly: Talking in an outraged voice about racism within the boundaries set by the woke culture is an excellent way of not talking about the pressing moral issues on which ­Christianity and the culture are opposed to each other: LGBTQ+ rights and abortion. Even Schleiermacher would cringe. Christian elites try to persuade the secular world that they aren’t so bad—no longer in terms of Enlightenment conceptions of reason, but in terms of the disordered moral preoccupations of the day.”
We All Have the Power of Caligula Now
Meanwhile, Alan Noble has some interesting (and disturbing) thoughts on pornography. “Pornography assumes that we are each our own and belong to ourselves. It’s a tool that promises to give us a kind of personal validation, a sense of identity, a taste of meaningfulness, and a glimpse of intimate belonging. But by its own logic, pornography, like modernity, is an empty promise.”
When Pastors Declare Victory Too Soon
“I used to think that turning a church around was like turning a business around: set a new vision, clean up the mess the old guy left, and get the charts pointing in the right direction.” But now Darryl has realized it’s far different.
Expressive Individualism: Our Twenty-First Century American Ba’al
Bruce Ashford: “Westerners in general, and Americans in particular, have learned to live life without any real reference to God. Because of our relative wealth, we tend not to lean on God for material provisions. Because of modern medicine, we rely on doctors and surgeons when our health is fragile, and don’t see God as the ultimate healer. Because of modern therapy, we tend to ignore the role he should play in the right ordering of our hearts and minds…”
What Is “the Name?”
Terry Johnson: “Were the Jehovah’s Witnesses right? Among their central boasts is that they have revived the covenantal name of God, the Hebrew YHWH, sometimes pronounced Yahweh and sometimes Jehovah, that Jesus came to restore. Ancient Hebrew has no vowels so the precise pronunciation may never be known. Given the growing practice among Evangelicals of referring in sermons and lectures to Yahweh, one would think that the Jehovah’s Witnesses were right.”
Dog Bites Man: Adventures in the Life of a Translation Consultant
How can someone help ensure the quality of a new translation when that person doesn’t speak the language? This article answers.
Pray for Those in Authority
“Authority and institutionalism have become less popular in recent years, but Scripture places emphasis on authority and organized religion is an irrevocable part of God’s plan for the world. We are commanded in Scripture to pray for those in authority (1 Timothy 2:1-2) and this command should be taken seriously.”
Flashback: Do We Care for the Sheep or Do We Use the Sheep?
There is a place for ambitious goals, I’m sure, but they must come after the sheep have been properly cared for, not before.

One of the chief purposes of trial and affliction is to make us send for our Savior. —Theodore Cuyler